Prince tried to hire 'trolls' to target Giuffre, book claims

Fresh allegations against Andrew revealed in posthumous memoir

- Caroline Davies

Prince Andrew’s team tried to hire “internet trolls to hassle” his accuser, Virginia Giuffre, while he hid behind the “well-guarded gates” of Balmoral Castle to avoid being served court papers, according to allegations in her posthumous memoir.

Giuffre wrote of the 2022 confidential settlement of her sexual abuse civil claim against the royal, widely rumoured to be $12m, that her lawyers “were going to ask for the moon”, and her team had agreed it “had to be more than mere money”.

She wrote: “After casting doubt on my credibility for so long - Prince Andrew’s team had even gone so far as to try to hire internet trolls to hassle me - the Duke of York owed me a meaningful apology as well.

“We would never get a confession, of course. That’s what settlements are designed to avoid.

“But we were trying for the next best thing: a general acknowledgment of what I'd been through.”

Giuffre agreed to a one-year gag clause so as not to “tarnish” the late Queen Elizabeth’s platinum jubilee celebrations.

Giuffre took her own life in April, aged 41. Her memoir, Nobody’s Girl, published today, comes amid growing pressure for Andrew to be officially stripped of his titles.

Before publication, the prince announced he would no longer use his Duke of York or Knight of the Order of the Garter titles, which are extant but inactive.

As King Charles visited Manchester yesterday to show his support to the Jewish community and those affected by the terrorist attack at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue on 2 October, pressure was growing on the royal family to go further by backing a move to formally strip Andrew of his dukedom through parliamentary legislation.